La-La Land (Paris/L.A./dreamland)

[Benjamin Zimmer]

HDAS defs for "La-La Land" are only for the 'L.A.' and 'dreamland' senses.
Here's an early cite where it refers to Paris (or perhaps France more
generally), evidently based on "(ooh-)la-la":

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Los Angeles Times, Jan 11, 1925, p. VI2/1 (heading)
Miniature Motor Cars Developed by French Engineers Amaze American Government
'Paris Flivver' is Tiny Affair; Commerce Department Motor Head Home Again;
Describes One-Man Taxis in "La-La Land"
["La-La Land" only appears in the heading, not the main text.]
-----

The 'L.A.' sense has been dated to Feb. 1979 (see Fred Shapiro's cite in a
2000 thread -- other 1979 cites are available on the databases). The
'dreamland' sense is in HDAS from 1985, MWCD11 from 1983. Here it is from
1979, contemporaneous with the rise of the 'L.A.' sense:

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Los Angeles Times, Jul 28, 1979, p. II3/4
Heather was in la-la land after taking a dose of her own medicine by
drinking the LSD-spiked iced tea intended for Diana.
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(By the way, Proquest now has a continuous run of the _L.A. Times_ from
1881 to 1985.)


--Ben Zimmer